


A Man's Promise

by WoorEnergy



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Best Friends, Coming Out, Despair Era (Dangan Ronpa), Fluff, Fujisaki Chihiro Lives, Gen, Misgendering, Mondo drinks his respect woman juice every day, Owada Mondo Lives, Self-Indulgent, Trans Female Character, Trans Fujisaki Chihiro, Trans Naegi Makoto, Transmisogyny, Transphobia, and chihiro's nervous, chihiro and mondo are bffs :), hiro gets like one line, it's accidental tho, monokuma is a little bitch, the other characters are just mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:39:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29048538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WoorEnergy/pseuds/WoorEnergy
Summary: Chihiro had multiple reasons to hate Monokuma; but after the disaster that was the second motive, she had to correct something. And who's better at keeping secrets than Mondo?
Relationships: Fujisaki Chihiro & Owada Mondo
Comments: 7
Kudos: 49





	A Man's Promise

**Author's Note:**

> trans!Chihiro lives in my head rent free, so I wrote something about her. Enjoy my dudes, and feel free to leave a kudos and a comment if you liked it !!

“H-Hey, Mondo? Can I... talk to you?”

Whispers rose from the other students, quickly shut down by the death glare the gang leader gave them. Sitting at the table, a now forgotten food tray in front of him, he turned to Toko who was offering them such a dirty look Chihiro felt it could have defiled her entire bloodline.

Still, she stood there, in front of Mondo, waiting for his answer. As a nervous habit, she started playing with the hem of her skirt, and her teeth sank into her bottom lip. She couldn’t decipher his expression, but could tell for sure he wasn’t pleased with her unexpected request.

“What are y’all looking at!?” He barked when Hifumi and Yasuhiro were still staring at them. “Mind your damn business!”

The two boys made a grimace and immediately did as they were told, even leaving the spot they had chosen for breakfast next to him. With that, Mondo stood up from his chair, stretching as he did so.

“’Sup, lil’ dude? You need something?”

Chihiro cringed at the nickname. Little did he know it was the reason she was coming to talk to him.

“I have to tell you something- in private. I-If that’s fine with you, that is,” she added, her voice already quivering.

Mondo seemingly thought about it for a few seconds, then shrugged. “Sure, lead the way.”

A quiet sigh made it past her lips. Good, she had done the first step.

As an unspoken agreement, Mondo went to her, and they both walked to the doors of the dining hall. However, before they could entirely leave, the gang leader turned around one more time to warn Yasuhiro not to “touch my goddamn food or I’ll break your fingers!”. Chihiro heard a response along the lines of “I wasn’t gonna!”, and despite her nervousness, couldn’t help the snort escaping her.

The two students walked together in the hallway as Chihiro looked around, always checking behind them to see if someone was following them. She really needed a moment alone with her friend, and the fact people as nosey as Makoto or Byakuya always ended up in situations they shouldn’t be involved in the first place was... irritating, to say the least. So hiding in one of the classrooms was out of the question.

Eventually, Chihiro opted for the privacy of her own dorm once they had reached the second floor. She never thought she could take advantage of the soundproof room. With a last glance around them, she opened the door and invited Mondo in. He was obviously hesitant, staying by the doorway before taking a step in once Chihiro ushered him inside.

“Alright, I think we’re good,” she mumbled to herself as she closed the door behind them.

“Fuck, what’s wrong, Chi? You’re weird- like, you trying to avoid the others or something?”

“Sort of- but, uh, that’s nothing you should worry about right now. You can take a seat, if you want.”

Mondo, again, looked reluctant, but sat on the edge of the bed, nonetheless; Chihiro took place on the desk chair nearby, just in front of her friend.

The two teenagers weren’t even looking at each other by that point, Chihiro trying to find the right words and Mondo, she assumed, waiting for her to speak first- as she should have. She had expected him to get annoyed, to yell at her to talk already, but he sat there, silent, hands folded in his lap, as if he already knew this conversation was going to be difficult for her. Maybe he actually did.

“Okay... This- This is really hard for me to talk about, but...” She paused to take a breath. “...you’re the only one I can trust with that.”

As she looked at Mondo, to gauge his reaction, he looked impassive, arms now crossed against his chest. She quietly swallowed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Of all people, I think I’m the one you _really_ shouldn’t trust with anything, ever,” he eventually scoffed in a bitter tone. “Like, you don’t need to butter me up.”

Chihiro rolled her eyes. “I mean it, Mondo! Seriously! I know that whatever I’m gonna tell you, you’ll keep it to yourself as long as I’ll ask you to. I have your promise as a man, right?”

The small girl couldn’t tell how Mondo felt at that point, his expression still blank with a nonchalant posture.

“Yeah. Just- Just get to the point already,” he murmured.

“Right, yeah.” She inhaled for what felt the umpteenth time, then cleared her throat. “You know, about... my “embarrassing” secret, as Monokuma put it? Well... There’s more to it that I wanted to share with you.”

“What do you mean? How could there be more to you being a guy in a skirt?”

Mondo must have noticed the way Chihiro’s face dropped, because the second the words left his mouth, he put a hand on her shoulder.

“No, sorry- I didn’t mean it like that. You can wear whatever you want, yeah? Like, keep the skirts if you like them. Who gives a shit, right?”

That was probably the first time Chihiro saw Mondo even slightly embarrassed, but the way he tried to support her was... comforting, at least. It made her feel a little safe for the first time since she had set foot in this hellhole of a school.

“Thanks, dude. But, um- like I said, there’s more to it than just... my appearance.”

“Chihiro, you know I like you, but I won’t be _that_ patient, even with you. Stop beating around the bush and tell me what’s wrong.”

“S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to- to upset you!” She stammered.

“It’s fine, just- yeah, stop being so vague. You told me you trust me, didn’t you? I’m your... friend or whatever, so you can tell me.”

Chihiro let out a shaky breath, playing with the folds in her skirt once more.

“Hm, sorry, I- I really trust you, and I know you won’t do me any harm, but... even so, it’s difficult to talk about. So... What I meant with all this is... I think...” She took a deep breath, as to give herself enough courage to finish her sentence. “I think I might be... happier as a girl. Monokuma said I’m a boy, I know, but- it doesn’t feel right. It never did, actually. I... Uh...”

Her voice had dropped so low by now, that for a second, she thought Mondo hadn’t heard her, and that she still had a chance to back off from this conversation and run away. She had never been _that_ brave, but sharing something as personal as this?  
Of course, it was _Mondo_. It would have been very unlikely of him to react with disdain or disgust... yet this situation petrified her. She waited for his answer- anything, really, as she could feel her heart racing with anxiety, and her head filling with the most horrible scenarios.  
  
She couldn’t hate Monokuma more for presenting her as a boy in disguise to the others. Well, she supposed that gave her another reason to tear that son of a bitch apart.

“You wanna be a girl, then? Why didn’t you say so sooner?” Mondo finally answered, frowning.

“I mean- try to get into my shoes here!” She buried her hands in her hair in frustration. “Being like me- being trans isn’t easy at all! I- I never know how people around me will react- I didn’t even know how you would react, I _always_ have to be on my guard! It’s exhausting, and I... I'm...”

As she felt Mondo’s hand on hers, she relaxed a little; there was no sign of aggressiveness, whether it was in his gestures or his eyes. On the contrary, he looked so compassionate that she regretted her sudden outburst.

“Sorry... I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.”

“No, it’s alright.” Gently, he guided her hands back to her lap and kept them there. “Look, you got nothing to fear with me. Makoto’s trans and I’m fine with him, so why shouldn’t I be chill with you too? I mean, you’re cute and you’ve never been a dick, so I got no reason to hate you.”

Chihiro blinked, as if Mondo had just dropped the missing clue to the uneasiness that had made its way into her heart.

“That’s... That’s a fair point,” she admitted, blushing at the compliment.

“And, like- it ain’t about me anyway, y’know? You don’t have to... protect me or whatever.” Mondo groaned, almost annoyed by his own wording. “How _you_ feel is more important to me than what I think. I don’t get to have an opinion on this, anyway.”

Chihiro felt like she was dreaming- a dream too good to be true. All of this was so unreal, the fact that Mondo just accepted her without even blinking at her changing her pronouns one more time... If only everyone could be that chill and open-minded about her, she would never had hidden herself in the first place.  
As she hadn’t spoken for a moment, lost in her own thoughts, she felt a hand against her cheek, immediately bringing her back to reality.

“You okay? Did I say something wrong?” Mondo asked, tilting his head to the side.

“No, no- I’m just...” she laughed quietly, squeezing the other hand still holding hers. “I’m just happy I can count on you.”

“Hell yeah you can! A real man respects all women, trans or not!” He claimed as he withdrew his hands. “So, no “lil’ dude” and all anymore, ay?”

“If that’s cool with you, yeah.”

Mondo shook his head. “Buddy, no. It ain’t “if that’s cool with you”, it’s “whether you like it or not”, got it? _You_ choose the names you go by, now.”

Chihiro chuckled, tears of relief welling up in her eyes. “I knew I could trust you.”

Mondo, snorting, ushered his small friend to come closer as he opened his arms. Chihiro didn’t even hesitate and launched herself at him, her arms around his torso and clinging to the back of his coat. She sighed when Mondo held her tighter against him. She had missed good old hugs like that; it felt so nice, as if she had always belonged here, despite knowing him for only a few weeks.  
They stayed there for God knows how long, and at some point she had closed her eyes when Mondo started stroking her hair.

“So... No pressure, but you gonna tell the others?” He asked, putting his chin on the top of her head.

“I don’t know if I can come out to everyone just yet. It’s... just a lot.”

“That's fine. You can start with the people you trust, like you did with me. You, Hina and Sakura are close, yeah?”

Chihiro nodded, barely moving from Mondo’s arms. “Hm... They’re always so nice to me- oh, and I think Taka would be okay, too.”

“If he wasn’t, I’d kick his ass for you.”

“But I thought he was your bro.”

“Exactly! And when your bro is being an asshole, you have to lead them in the right direction.” Mondo backed away and ruffled Chihiro’s hair. “Don’t worry your pretty head about all this. I’ll always have your back, and that’s a promise.”

Chihiro felt her heart fluttering, and she offered her brightest grin to her friend. “Thanks, Mondo. You’re the best.”

“Don’t get used to it,” he grumbled, “I have a reputation to keep.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle at that once again. “Yeah, sure. Let’s go back to the dining hall now, okay?”


End file.
